WHAT THE HELL?

“Today I saw a huge Ford Excursion (3/4 ton 4x4) with a Yakima rack on top. Attached to the rack was a cargo box--what the hell? Do they not have enough room in that truck so large I could park my Accord? Sideways!!??

I think people like the "look" of "gear." Here in Johnson County (one of the wealthiest counties in the US) we have Range Rovers with the full roll cage, light bar, tail light cages, nerf bars, etc. All so the wife won't bump the paltry little Mercedes or Lexus parked at the mall parking lot.

What has this country become?”

“1998 Tacoma 2wd. Factory everything, ie, radio, wheels, etc.
"Simplicity,
simplicity,
simplicity."

Yeah, these suburbanites are a hoot!”

“Let me guess, it had street tires on it didn't it?! I see it all day everyday here in the city of vanity and image is everything. Little gold digger behind the wheel of a huge SUV with brush gaurds and factory steet tires that would get stuck in 6" of sand. It's so funny I just look at them, point at thier tires and laugh.
How about a 4x4 SUV low rider, somebody please explain the reasoning behind this!”

“Hey, if they can afford it, more power to them. As for me, 1987 Ford Pickup, 199,935 miles, no engine work, original clutch. This baby is going to run forever!”

“Here in Fresno California, we have that whole Monster Truck look going on. These guys take a Chevy Taho or Suburban, jack it up a couple of ft, and then throw the largest most gnarley tires on, only to use as a comute vehicle. I've seen the same trucks go through a set of tires in about 1 year. What a waist of money! My coworker did that to his jeep, and I asked him what the purpose was? He said that he "wanted to be seen" then he went and tinted all his windows, and no one could see him. No brains let me tell you...”

“Taho = Tahoe

So ya don't slam me for that”

“Bet your neighbor also installed maga speakers to blast thumpa-thump rap so he "could be heard," then went deaf.”

“Actually the guy accross the street has a lowered Chevy Blazer with thumpers. He's out there washing his car every other day.”

“When did wealth become a bad thing?”

“since someone who doesn't have it started pissing and moaning.”

“What kind of cargo box? Can't speak for your county, but I see a lot of them at the parking lots on the ski slopes. I figure they don't want the wet skis inside the rig to get the upholstery wet and fog up the windows with all the moisture. Makes sense to me, specially if they have several people in the rig with luggage for the weekend. My firends and I go weekend skiiing in a dodge durango with a ski rack on top, but I'd much rather have my skis protected in a pod rather than out getting plastered with road grime if I had the choice and could afford an enclosed pod.”

“Hey, bacpac and radagast--I'm not slamming wealth, nor am I "pissing and moaning." I am merely stating how absolutely silly it is to see some vehicle that was made for the true wilderness (like the African or Austrailian bush)--don't reference female genitalia here--used to drive around on pavement. Not only using it in a "tame" environment but using every add-on known to man (cages, lights, racks, bull-bars, etc.) to give their vehicle the tough look--kinda' like they see in the TV series "Survivor." I am quite sure my Accord has been to more remote places than that Excursion has been.

As for the idea of protecting their skis, I am sure that, considering the neighborhood in which I saw this beast parked (houses START at $1.5million) when they go skiing they fly to the slopes--geeze, a round-trip flight is only 1 hour and costs $120 coach. Why would they drive?

This whole string had nothing to do with the "wealth" but with the silly things people do in order to achieve a "look." I apologize if my verbiage misled some of you. . .

Keep in mind, this is Johnson County KANSAS ('burb of KC)--there is NO need for 4wd, brush guards, Pella lamps, nerfbars, etc. If this were in Estes Park I could understand a little more.”

“you think a ford excursion was made for the bush? it was made for exactly what you saw it being used for: driving around town and maybe getting down a two track to the cottage or getting through the occasional deep snow.”

“an excursion (as well as many other SUVs) are just vans for people that don't want a van. look at them, closely. it's a van, dude.”

“well, actually I was referencing the Range Rovers from the original post, but I suppose I should not have mixed thoughts while ranting about the Ford. Sorry. Anyway, you still get what I'm talking about. . .”

“This is what I got off the Ford Excursion website:
"Sure. Excursion is big. So big, in fact, you may have to rethink what it means to be a passenger. Such as where to sit when one seat is as comfortable as the next.

And if you happen to be the one behind the wheel, don't be surprised if everyone wants a ride. After all, Excursion can accommodate up to nine people?and their luggage.

All that space comes in handy when you?ve got a load to transport, too. Like that antique bathtub you bought, or 35 4x8-foot sheets of drywall."

Not a word about it's performance or it's off-roading capabilities.
They're vans for people who want to look cool. Anyone who puts a brush guard on this should have their head examined.”

“Even more ridiculous..
Since I live at a ski area that services Lost Angeles, I see all the worst.
We've got a couple a Hum Vees I see up in the parking lot at the Main Lodge all the time.
One is canary yellow.
Then there's the Cadillac, Mercedes, and Lincoln SUV's.
Gold leaf trim.
And chains when the road conditions are R2.
Makes me want to puke.

I got my little old 78 Toyota Landcrusier, 147,000 miles.
We've been together since 1980.”

“One of the reasons that SUVs exist has to do with the Federal Mandate for fuel mileage on cars. The auto manufacturers knew that full size station wagons would never comply. However, the fuel mileage mandate did not apply to light trucks. Therefore, station wagons became SUVs (light trucks) to get around fuel mileage mandates.”

“BaSO4--that may be one of the reasons they EXIST but certainly the main reason they are so PROLIFIC is the *need* for Joe Public to identify with the wild rugged ourdoor world in which he has no part. Wow! Look at the REAL rugged Marlboro men--they drive beat up old Toyotas!

Marketing, Marketing, Marketing. . .”

“i've seen a stretched SUV in Downtown Portland once.”

“I see the stretch jobs in Manhattan all the time. They look pretty ridiculous.”

“there are ALOT of stretched SUV-limos in altanta.

yee-haw.”

“"Three Kings" showed some rugged applications for luxury cars.”

“Pathetic”

“well, quit looking in the mirror, kid!”

“True story. Took a bunch of scouts to camp in the Sierra's here a few years ago, one of the parents had just bought a big new Ford Expedition. Great, I thought, they can drive the heavy gear around to the back side of camp so we don't have to haul it in on our backs...nope...the parent's quote..."I might get my new car scratched up". Sheesh.”

“Not like they couldn't afford to repair the scratches. Or maybe all the money is in the tank.”

“The core theme of this thread is that TT posters who can only afford a ten or twenty year old vehicle with +100,000 miles on them are pissed that other people can afford much more.

Maybe spending all day posting on TT barely pays the bills, but it beats working a real job. Or does it?”

“I don?t think they are pissed bacpac, just petty. "Thou shalt not covet" still holds true today. 8) The funny thing is that once again we see everyone jumping on the righteous anti-SUV bandwagon but still we see NO ONE decrying the evils of the conversion van and the mini van which are just as big and just as bad on gas. Hmmmm. Not only this but the ones who consider themselves noble for having a 20 year old 100,000+ car or truck don?t even see the hypocrisy of the fact that there old engines suck just as much gas, put out fewer horse power per cubic inch and burn much dirtier than the shiny new SUVs they rail against. Modern engines are far more efficient than the "noble" rust bucket.

If worrying about what the guy next door is driving was the hardest thing I face in my day I got the world by the tail baby! 8)”

“good point, nige. a worthy weekly post.

i forgot about how bad those older engines are. hell, some of them do not even need emissions testing, and i guarantee that those who do, come out worse than these gas-guzzlin', shiny-new rides.

i hate getting behind some old, smoking POS. freakin' oil burners!”

“bacpac & nigal:

You obviously didn't understand the premise of my post. ONCE AGAIN, I was poking fun at those attempting to achieve a "look" not the choice of vehicle they choose. I can easily afford the newer car (geeze, mine's a '97 so it ain't that old) but it makes more sense (financial) to keep the car until it craps out. If others want to buy a new car every two or three years, great! They'll help the economy more than me.

I'm not jealous--I couldn't care less if someone drives a 911, a Hummer, a Range Rover or a 4-door Reliant K-car. MY ONLY ISSUE WAS THOSE WHO TRY SO HARD TO BUY THE "IMAGE." Sprite's ads against image sure are right on the money.

Once again, let me spell it out (in case you STILL don't get it)--[the following is a quote from above, which you obviously didn't read either] This whole string had nothing to do with the "wealth" but with the silly things people do in order to achieve a "look." I apologize if my verbiage misled some of you. . .

Keep in mind, this is Johnson County KANSAS ('burb of KC)--there is NO need for 4wd, brush guards, Pella lamps, nerfbars, etc. If this were in Estes Park I could understand a little more.

I hope this cleared it up, but I am quite sure it didn't. I tried.”

“I drive my SUV to the city every day where there is no need for 4WD, but that doesn't mean I don't need it other times. Since I only have one vehicle at the moment it's what I drive all the time.

I don't get this attitude against SUV's, all I was trying to do when I bought mine was get the biggest bang for my buck. I just wish I had a cup holder.”

“burnt toast hasn't figured out the thick skin part of posting here.”

“Actually, my minivan got a lot better mpg than SUVs right up to the day I traded it in with 144,000 miles on it.

I understand BT's point. It's even worse here in the Northwoods where there are actual places 4wd would be useful, and still you see huge SUVs and 4wd trucks that are simply family gotoschool/store vehicles. I'm mostly bothered by the Excursion/Denali crowd when they drive 90mph on our highways with high center of gravity and inappropriate tires (it isn't all Firestone's fault) as they rush to or from their suburban enclaves downstate or in Illinois. I don't want them flipping that giant can on top of me as they try to cram a weekend into the fewest possible hours.”

“i am guilty of taking BT's point of view, too.

while driving down the road, i make fun of the trucks that have those useless bush guards on the lights and bumpers, too.

99% of those are only MADE for decoration. real bush bars are extremely expensive. i have only seen about 3 vehicles with one on them. one was a VERY well used (beat to hell) range rover. the other two were jeeps.”

“Trust me, the toast has some thick crust--it's no fun getting blackened all the time, so I learned to deal. . .(?)

What do you mean, rag, about being, "guilty to taking BT's point of view?" there's nothing wrong with being right! :) [that ought to spark some comments, eh?]

My wife's uncle sells, get this, retrofitted Toyotas in Gibralter to the UN, missionaries, foreign governments, etc. These things are for real! Bull bars, HO deisel engines, mine-proof floorboards, etc. they go for about $80k for a 4-runner-like truck. Man, wouldn't it be fun to try to beat that thing up!!??”

“Oops. I meant "rad" and not "rag."

sorry. (kinda' funny, though)”

“I don't like it is totally a image thing, I think many bought these big SUV's to feel safe on the road. Which is a misnomer. Believing that big means safer. Feeling that if they have the biggest thing on the road they will be safer. There maybe a little truth to that but many of todays cars are just as sound and safer in a accident than many SUV's. They don't handle and stop worth crap.
They're great if you have to haul and tow something but if it's just you in there I ,I ,I........ well to each is own.

I chuckle every time I see a soccer mom climbing into one of those huge rides. Its kinda humorous to see a liitle woman in there smashed up against the steering wheel. And to watch them drive down the road or should I say shoulder on the narrow roads that can barely contain those rides. Put a cell phone in her hand and a few screaming kids in back and you have a the makings of tradegy.”

“the core theme of bacpac's comments is he is pissed that others post on TT at work and waaaahhhhh poor baby i have to work so hard while you play waahhhh sob sniff and you guys are mean waaahhh!”

“Yeah, Lump! Sic 'em!”

“Lumpy, You are the dimmest bulb.

Burnt, who said I was talking specifically to you. Read some of the other posts.”

“Hmmm... dim bulbs, burnt bulbs and then there are the ones that the carnival geeks eat.”

“OK, so I?ll get chatty this week. Burnt, my post wasn?t directed at you specifically but the fact that you took offence to it says a great deal in the first place, yes? But if ya wanna bring it up?

?This whole string had nothing to do with the "wealth"?

?Here in Johnson County (one of the wealthiest counties in the US)?

Nothing to do with wealth, huh? Hmmmm, why then is this tid bit stuck in there?

?we have Range Rovers with the full roll cage, light bar, tail light cages, nerf bars, etc. All so the wife won't bump the paltry little Mercedes or Lexus parked at the mall parking lot.?

And here we have no mention of the old ?78 Bronco with the winch on the front and brush guard or the crappy S-10 with big tires that are everywhere? No, you only speak of the RR?s, Lexus and the Mercedes. Your entire post smacks of class resentment. No? Then why does it bother you enough to sit down and make a thread venting your consternation or ?make fun? of other?s tastes? Even more, why does it bother you PERIOD?

?What has this country become??

This is the most telling statement of all. Here you hint at the fact that rich folks putting something on there truck is bad for society? Now it?s my turn to ask, ?What the hell??

Small man?very small.

See ya next week gang! 8)”

“damn, nige! you ate your wheaties, eh?!? good points.”

“Hiya Nigal;-)”

“Well here I go. MY opinion on the matter is that people (me included) buy according to our means, taste and what we perceive will meet our needs. For me to worry about what somebody else is driving or to speculate at the reason they are driving it is a waste of my time. To each there own and good luck in reaching whatever your desires may be, whether it be vehicle, home, backpack, stove, next trip, etc.”

“Briar, I don't agree that larger vehicles aren't safer in most cases. Last year on I-96 a dude transporting a crane miscalculated his vehicle height and rammed an overpass so hard it collapsed. The only other vehicle that it collapsed on was an Expedition driven by a "soccer mom". She and her precious cargo survived virtually injury free. It was dificult to believe after viewing the footage. It was noted that if she'd been in a smaller vehicle that they'd of been crushed.

I certainly feel alot safer and am, my insurance rates reflect it, in my big ol' taurus wagon than I would in a rinky little escort wagon.”

“I suppose I am just not being "tolerant," huh? Oh well. Some of you people make me wonder--you flame on about a sidebar and totally disregard the original context, intent and point. Not surprising, though.


Perhaps I'll be back in a week or so.

~Toast”

“I no longer have a truck, but I did get into that off road stuff for awhile. I had a Toyota 4X4 Off-Road. Now I only have my Raleigh M600 Mountain Comp bike.

The funny thing is, I striped it down to slick 1.5 inch tires from the knoby 2.5's, took off my bar ends (so I don't catch them on a parking meter), and am in the process of loosing the Manitou Spider R shocks in exchange for a rigid fork.

As my father says, "people think they own material things, but those things really own them".”

“toast, When you come back bring along ham & eggs.”